GLAAD - Eric Ohena Lembembehttp://www.glaad.org/tags/eric-ohena-lembembe
enGay 'prisoner of conscience' dies in Cameroonhttp://www.glaad.org/blog/gay-prisoner-conscience-dies-cameroon
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-featured field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span id="styles-0-0" class="styles file-styles 750px"> <img src="http://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/styles/750px/public/3-a59c88c0a2043dd91186dd2311861bcb5d859763.jpg?itok=0pAaILEJ" alt="" title="" /></span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Roger Jean-Claude Mbede of Cameroon died after being released from prison. Mbede got arrested in March of 2011 after sending a text message saying "I'm very much in love with you” to another man. Due to the strict laws in Cameroon prohibiting identification as a member of the LGBT community, he got sentenced for 3 years in prison.</p>
<p><img class="media-image media-image-right" id="2" style="float: right;;;;;;;;;;" src="http://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Jean-Claude-Roger-Mbede_0.jpg?itok=sVEWpJof" alt="" /></p>
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<p>While in Prison, Mbede developed a hernia which allowed him a medical leave. While getting treatment at the hospital, his family took him home. Mbede died a month later at the age of 34. Although he was recovering from the hernia, his stay at home worsened his well-being.</p>
<blockquote><p>"His family said he was a curse for them and that we should let him die," said his lawyer, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/gay-prisoner-conscience-dies-cameroon-21502989%20" target="_blank">Alice Nkom.</a></p>
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<blockquote><p>"His family said they were going to remove the homosexuality which is in him," said Lamba, a minority activist in Cameroon. "I went to see him in his village. He could not stand up, he couldn't speak."</p>
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<p>Roger Jean-Claude Mbede was not the only person in Cameroon who died for being LGBT. <a href="http://www.glaad.org/news/prominent-gay-rights-activist-killed-cameroon" target="_blank">Eric Ohena Lembembe</a>, was a prominent LGBT rights activist fighting for equality in Cameroon. He served as an executive director of <a href="http://www.camfaids.org/" target="_blank">CAMFAIDS</a> which is a Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS. He also focused on LGBT individuals who experienced violence, blackmail and arrests. In July of 2013, Lembembe’s body was found in his home. He suffered from a broken neck and feet as well as burn marks from an iron.<img class="media-image media-image-left" id="2" style="float: left;;;;;;;;;;" src="http://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/eric_ohena_lemembe.jpg?itok=y1qqDdd2" alt="" /></p>
<blockquote><p>"Eric was an inspiring activist whose work was deeply appreciated by human rights activists in Cameroon and around the world," said HRW senior LGBT rights researcher <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/eric-ohena-lembembe-killed-dead_n_3604460.html%20%20" target="_blank">Neela Ghoshal.</a></p>
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<p>After the death of Lembembe, Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullmann filmed a moving documentary about the secret world of the LGBT community in Cameroon.</p>
<blockquote><p>“We spent nearly three months in Cameroon shooting Born This Way, a documentary about the underground LGBT movement there. We were overwhelmed by the power of the love and courage of those who fight for justice in Cameroon, and the film aims to communicate this. While we never met Eric Lembembe, Yves Yomb and several other heroic activists are featured. Cameroon has consistently been the most egregious violator of rights of gay and lesbian people in the world, imprisoning more people for their perceived sexual orientation than anywhere on the planet” Said the <a href="http://www.glaad.org/news/born-way-documents-fierce-oppression-underground-lgbt-community-cameroon-video%20" target="_blank">filmmakers</a>.</p>
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<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_z85DTV3WKc?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></p>
<p>The stories of both men serve as a reminder of the severity of LGBT inequality around the world and especially in Cameroon. According to <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201308290086.html" target="_blank">All Africa</a>, although Cameroon remains one of the most repressive nations in terms of LGBT rights, there is a glimpse of hope. Lembembe's murder put pressure on the Cameroonian government to stop ignoring hate crime directed towards members of the LGBT community in Cameroon.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pubdate field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 13, 2014</span></div></div></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/cameroon">Cameroon</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/roger-jean-claude-mbede">Roger Jean-Claude Mbede</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/lgbt">Lgbt</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/gay">gay</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/activist">activist</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/eric-ohena-lembembe">Eric Ohena Lembembe</a></li>
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Mon, 13 Jan 2014 18:17:04 +0000adera69451 at http://www.glaad.orghttp://www.glaad.org/blog/gay-prisoner-conscience-dies-cameroon#commentsCameroonian LGBTI activist found tortured to death in homehttp://www.glaad.org/blog/cameroonian-lgbti-activist-found-tortured-death-home
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-featured field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img class="media-image" id="6" style="margin: 5px; float: left;;;;;;" src="http://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/eric-o-lembembe_0.jpg?itok=56zuWKbp" alt="" />Prominent Cameroonian LGBTI activist and journalist Eric Ohena Lembembe was found brutally tortured and murdered in his home in the latest of a series of violent anti-LGBTI hate crimes in Cameroon.</p>
<p>Lembembe's friends went to his home after being unable to contact him for days by telephone, and found his apartment in Yaounde padlocked from the outside. Through the window, they saw his body and called the police. Police broke in the door. One friend said his neck and feet were broken, and his face, hands, and feet were burned with an iron.</p>
<p>Eric was one of the most prominent LGBTI activists in Cameroon and the executive director of the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS (CAMFAIDS). He was well-known for his collaboration with various LGBTI rights organizations on a March 2013 report on the unfair prosecution of same-sex conduct titled <em><a href="file:///P:/(5)%20Religion,%20Faith%20and%20Values/Blog%20Posts/Hannah%20Blog%20Posts/It%20was%20reported%20by%20Human%20Rights%20Watch,">Guilty by Association</a></em>.</p>
<p>Only 10 days before his body was found, Lembembe wrote <a href="http://76crimes.com/2013/07/05/after-attacks-lgbti-defenders-in-cameroon-seek-safety/">an article</a> calling for the Cameroonian government to end their "absurd and despicable" silence in response to the way they handled the most recent LGBTI hate crimes in Cameroon.</p>
<p>On June 26<sup>th</sup>, "unidentified assailants" burned down the headquarters of Alternatives-Cameroun, an organization that provided HIV-related services to LGBTI people in Cameroon. On June 16<sup>th</sup>, human rights lawyer Michel Togué was burgled, his legal files and laptop stolen in the burglary. Togué and Alice Nkom, another lawyer with LGBTI clients, have received death threats, as well as threats to the lives of their children.</p>
<p>All of these incidents have been reported to authorities, but not a single suspect has been apprehended in relation to any of the cases.</p>
<p>In the wake of Eric's brutal murder, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/16/cameroon-lgbti-rights-activist-found-dead-tortured">Human Rights Watch</a> and the <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/07/212062.htm">US Department of State</a> issued a call to action to Cameroonian authorities to investigate his torture and killing.</p>
<p><img class="media-image" id="6" style="margin: 5px; float: right;;;" src="http://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/god-loves-uganda-poster_2.jpg?itok=uztlYJJJ" alt="" />Recently, the films <em><a href="http://www.godlovesuganda.com/">God Loves Uganda</a> </em>and <em><a href="http://callmekuchu.com/">Call me Kuchu</a></em> have brought attention to the dangerous effects of the often homophobic teachings of radical evangelical missionaries in Africa. </p>
<p>Cameroon is one of the 38 African countries in which same-sex conduct is punishable by law. Human Rights Watch reports that Cameroon prosecutes consensual same-sex conduct more rigorously than <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/21/cameroon-rights-abuses-homosexuality-prosecutions">almost any country in the world</a>. </p>
<p>Like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/africa/28uganda.html?_r=0">David Kato</a>, the outspoken Ugandan gay rights activist who was beaten to death in 2011, Lembembe stood up for LGBT equality at great risk, and GLAAD urges the media to report on the critical work to which he dedicated his life.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pubdate field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">July 17, 2013</span></div></div></div>
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<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/news">News</a>, </li>
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<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/cameroon">Cameroon</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/lgbt-people-color">lgbt people of color</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/cameroonian-foundation-aids">Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS</a></li>
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Wed, 17 Jul 2013 18:18:40 +0000hannahkreider67031 at http://www.glaad.orghttp://www.glaad.org/blog/cameroonian-lgbti-activist-found-tortured-death-home#comments